Dr. Carrie Symons is a Special Instructor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Oakland University (OU) in Rochester Hills, MI, USA. She holds a BFA in Theatre (University of Colorado, Boulder), an MA in Curriculum and Instruction (University of Colorado, Boulder), and a PhD in Educational Studies: Literacy, Language, and Culture (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor). Formerly an elementary classroom teacher of 10 years in both public and independent schools, Carrie teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in elementary literacy instructional methods, disciplinary literacy, K-12 literacy instruction for multilingual learners, action research, and English language development across content areas. At the intersection of education and social justice, Carrie is also a core faculty member with The Witness Institute, a non-profit organization founded and directed by Rabbi Dr. Ariel Burger, where she works with interdisciplinary, transnational cohorts of fellows on developing moral courage and moral leadership.
Carrie’s work has been published in journals such as Pedagogies: An International Journal, English Journal, Linguistics and Education, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, and Learning and Instruction and has been featured in MSU’s Engaged Scholar E-Newsletter and MSU Today: Voices and Viewpoints. Her research has been funded by the American Educational Research Association, the International Literacy Association, Michigan State University’s Diversity Research Network, and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities’ Network for Global Civic Engagement. Carrie was the recipient of the 2018 American Reading Forum Gary Moorman Early Career Literacy Scholar Award and the 2019 Malala Award for Dedication to Education awarded by the Refugee Development Center in Lansing, Michigan. Carrie was also a 2019-20 Re-Imagining Migration Fellow and was awarded a 2020-2021 MSU Lilly Fellowship for her project, Apprenticing Teacher Education Doctoral Students into Community-Engaged Scholarship.
Alongside her work in the field of education, Carrie has been practicing yoga since 2003. In 2005, she became a certified yoga teacher and has taught all levels of students from beginners to pre-service yoga teachers. Across formal and informal educational contexts, Carrie is committed to supporting teachers in their cultivation of human-centered pedagogies that are sustainable and nurturing for both themselves and their students.